LCMS Convention Workbook St. Louis, Missouri — 2023, Page 148

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148

OFFICER, BOARD, AND COMMISSION REPORTS

districts of the Synod, and all district presidents, and all affiliated colleges and universities.
(c) He shall at regular intervals officially visit or cause to be
visited all the educational institutions of the Synod and all
affiliated colleges and universities to exercise supervision
over the doctrine taught and practiced in those institutions.
He shall call up for review any action by the respective board
of regents, administration, faculty, or institution that, in his
view, may be contrary to the doctrine and practice of the Synod and, if he deems appropriate, he shall request that such
action be altered or reversed.
3.10.5.7.2 Each theological seminary shall have established policies and procedures related to appointments. There shall be two
levels of faculty appointments: (1) Initial level, where the appointment can be terminated with no formal requirement for a
show of cause; (2) continuing level, where termination requires
a formal show of cause.
(d) Standards or qualifications for moving a faculty member
from initial-level appointment to continuing-level appointment shall be the following:
(1) The faculty member shall ordinarily have completed four
to six years of creditable service (periods of leave are not
included) as a member of the faculty of one or more educational institutions of the Synod or affiliated colleges or
universities, at least the last two years of which shall have
been in the seminary currently served.
And be it further
Resolved, That Bylaws 1.5.3.6 (b)(1); 3.2.2 [6]; 3.3.1.2 (a);
3.3.4.5 (e); and 3.3.4.6 (b)(2) be amended to reflect the nonagency
status of the colleges and universities by removing references to the
colleges and universities, whether explicit or implicit as among the
“educational institutions of the Synod,” leaving, however, references to the seminaries of the Synod, which remain agencies; and
be it further
Resolved, That references to Synod colleges and universities in
Bylaws 3.6.2.2.3, including its subparagraph (b), regarding Concordia Historical Institute and 3.8.3, regarding liaison by the Board
for International Mission, be amended to refer to affiliated colleges and universities; that Bylaws 3.6.5 and 3.6.5.2 be amended
to include “affiliated colleges and universities” among the entities
served and members of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod
Foundation; that Bylaw 3.6.5.3 be amended to strike “colleges”
and add “affiliated colleges and universities”; that Bylaw 3.7.1.1
(f), dealing with availability of the Concordia Plans, Bylaw 3.9.2.2,
dealing with access to the Commission on Constitutional Matters
(CCM) and its review of governing documents, Bylaw 3.9.3, dealing with the scope of review of the Commission on Doctrinal Review, and Bylaws 3.12.2.8 (a–b) and 3.12.3.4 (a–c), dealing with
convention nominations, be amended to add the same; and that
Bylaw 3.9.2.2.3, dealing with the CCM’s review of documents,
be amended to add subparagraph (d), to read, “(d) The commission shall, at the request of the Board of Directors or Commission
for University Education, review governing documents of affiliated colleges and universities and their related organizations as to
whether they are in harmony with the requirements of affiliate status under the Constitution, Bylaws, and resolutions of the Synod”;
and be it further
Resolved, That Bylaws 2.5.1–2 and 2.10.3, dealing with the call,
ordination, and installation of ministers of religion, be amended
2023 Convention Workbook

to add to each instance of agency(ies) also a reference to affiliated
college(s) and university(ies); and be it further
Resolved, That such colleges and universities presently existing
as agencies of the Synod be hereby and henceforth designated to
be affiliated with the Synod, with the Board of Directors and the
several boards of regents taking any necessary actions to effect this
change, unless and until such affiliation should be rescinded, consistent with the bylaws here adopted; and be it further
Resolved, That the Synod, in reclassifying the Concordia colleges
and universities from agency to affiliate status, nevertheless asserts
its primary interest in the historical use of the name Concordia
to denote those colleges, universities, and seminaries serving the
Synod’s confession, for and on behalf of Synod’s congregations.
The name having been bestowed in this long-standing tradition,
the Synod asserts that the name Concordia, in connection with its
use by its colleges and universities, along with all its derivatives, is
and remains property of the Synod. The Synod expects the colleges
and universities to honor the name’s purpose and intent and, should
they no longer serve these ends through continued affiliation with
the Synod, to forfeit and forgo the use of the name Concordia and
all its derivations, and to assign any rights thereto to the Synod.
The Synod moreover directs and requires each college or university
transitioning from agency to affiliate status to provide the instrument required by Bylaw 3.10.6.7 (d), above; and be it finally
Resolved, That the existing claim on the property of the colleges
and universities insofar as they have been regarded as “property
of the Synod,” except for any existing reversionary interests and
rights of reentry granted or directed by convention resolution or
other action by or on behalf of Synod in affiliate properties and
except for the Synod’s primary interest in the name Concordia, is
hereby directed to be released in favor of the respective colleges
and universities upon their acceptance of affiliate status in accordance with the above, and that existing agreements governing said
property as “property of the Synod,” explicitly excluding any existing reversionary interests and rights of reentry granted in affiliate
properties and the Synod’s interest in the name Concordia, are, effective at that time, hereby superseded.
C. TO ESTABLISH INITIAL CRITERIA AND PROCESS
FOR
AFFILIATED UNIVERSITY ACCREDITATION
In keeping with the charge of 2019 Res. 7-03 to “strengthen all
CUS institutions’ connection to the Synod” and to “strengthen the
confessional Lutheran identity of all CUS institutions,” the Commission for University Education (CUE) is to accredit affiliated
colleges and universities on the basis of their Lutheran Identity and
Mission Outcomes (that is, their effective preparation of church
workers, thorough preparation of Lutheran laity for service and
leadership in the church, and immersion of all students in a faithful
and forthright Lutheran context and curriculum).
2016 Res. 7-01A, “To Adopt Lutheran Identity Statements for CUS
Institutions as Prepared by CUS Presidents” (Proc., 171), already
adopted by the convention and the several boards of regents, provides an initial framework for the Lutheran Identity and Mission
Outcome Standards (“the Standards”); the process of accreditation
is modeled on that already familiar to the institutions, already regularly performed by the various accrediting bodies to which they
are responsible in the secular sphere. This Synod accreditation is
to be both likened to and distinguished from secular accreditation,